MATURE

Life hasn’t been kind to me. One moment, I was a carefree eighteen-year-old with dreams of a bright future. The next, I was a 28 year old lady and my world went up in flames. literally. My mom died in the fire that destroyed our home, my little sister is in a coma, and my brother’s in jail for trying to keep us afloat. My dad? He left us drowning in debt and despair.

I thought I’d hit rock bottom, but then I found myself working in a place where dreams go to die, doing things I never imagined just to survive. That’s when he walked into my life, Alex Romanov. Dangerous. Mysterious. And entirely out of my league.

He’s everything I should fear, but there’s something about him that draws me in. Maybe it’s the way he looks at me like I’m more than just another broken soul. Or the way he makes me feel alive when I thought I’d forgotten how.

But Alex has secrets, dark ones that could destroy us both. And as my past collides with his world, I’m left wondering: Can I trust the man who’s slowly stealing my heart, or will his darkness swallow me whole?

This isn’t the life I wanted, but it’s the one I’ve been given.

Something inside me whispered that I was going too far. That maybe I was turning into someone I wouldn't recognize anymore. But I couldn't stop. I had come too far, said too much. The lie had already been planted and now, I had to make sure it grew into truth.


If I couldn't make Alex love me… then I'd do everything I could to make sure he never loved her either.


I couldn't sleep that night. I tossed and turned in my bed, the pictures of Bella learning to drive flashing over and over in my mind. Her smile, that laugh, the way she leaned into the steering wheel as if life was finally going her way, it made my blood boil. I felt like I was burning on the inside, and there was no water in the world that could put it out.


Chapter 169 - 169